Rocky
by blackbirdxsinging
Summary: Max was having mixed emotions. There was Jude. And there was Lucy. And then there was this feeling he could never explain when he saw the two of them together. And then there was that stuid cat... One Shot, Max/Jude, Jude/Lucy.


It might as well have been Miss March centerfold across the newpaper; it's hard to determine what he would have snatched up faster.

And as strange as it may sound, Max found himself hunched over the paper, squinting at the tiny words... _reading,_ on his own will.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, turning her head from the groceries in front of her, obviously on her way to the kitchen.

"Mm," he replied.

"Are you..._reading?_" To be completely honest with herself, Lucy would have said that it wasn't really a rhetorical question. But the groceries in her arms were beginning to make them feel numb (her arms, not the bags), and she was dying to see Jude, on the account of she hadn't seen him in the past ten minutes that it took to walk to the store and back. Lucy was the type of finace that just started showing random acts of affection and always wanting to see him just because he finally got down on one knee and proposed to her.

Even though the 'getting down on one knee' is used here as an expression—Jude had just placed the ring on her finger one night at dinner and asked her, if Max could recall correctly, his voice all over the place. Max was just getting into his vegetables when he heard Lucy gasp and he looked up, slightly alarmed, expecting there to be a dead mouse or something else of the sort sitting on her plate. It wasn't truly Sadie's fault that her cooking always sucked, it was more the fact that the apartment was always a mess. That was more of a joint effort between the tenants. Or at least thats what Sadie kept telling herself.

But no, instead of the dead mouse he was so sure of, there was a sparkling ring instead. She nodded her head after admiring the ring for a short second. Then she practically knocked over the table to jump in the arms of a rather relieved, and exhausted, Jude.

And although Jude loved her with all her heart, he much felt that his life had come to an end. What would happen next... kids? Of course he loved her, and of course things were going to be great. But it seemed that marriage was more of a ball and chain than a loving binding between the two. He had greatly considered calling the whole thing off, but he knew that wouldnt be poosible... not with Lucy being so estastic... _all the time._ He actually quite enjoyed Lucy's bubbly side, smiles, kisses, presents, sex...

Max looked up from the paper. He had sworn that he saw something move, but as he looked around, there seemed to be nothing there. He placed down the paper, continuing to search the room. Finally, he spun his head around to check behind the couch.

Nothing.

He turned back around, relieved and about to get ready to read again, but his hands found themselves retreating after only halfways towards the paper.

"Jesus Christ!!" He exclaimed, jumping. He pointed. "I knew you were here, you goddamned devil cat!"

The apartments cat—who happened to have no name at the time—looked up, innocently. She began to stretch out her legs on the paper.

"Move!" Max yelled from the couch. "I was reading that!"

She didn't seem to care that Max had never read since his second year of college. She moved over a bit, and curled up, right on top of the paper.

Max swore to God he saw a tiny kitty smirk out of her.

He sat for a seond, folding his arms, wondering how he was going to be able to get the thing to _move._ He then started wondering _why_ he was reading in the first place. He looked up at the ceiling as if te answer was up there, but then found himself shrugging and walking into the kitchen.

"Max read the news today." Lucy told Jude, from what Max could hear halfway across the whatever-room. Even his own sister couldn't hold back a giggle.

"Oh boy." Jude said back in reply, a grin on his face. Max could see directly in the kitchen now, but his sister and best friend didn't notice him.

He placed a hand on hers and she smiled again. She sat on his lap and kissed him, honestly making Max feel sick to his stomach, for a reason he couldn't understand.

"Ex_cuse_ me." Max pouted from the doorway.

Lucy pulled away and covered her mouth, smiling. Jude just looked away.

"Oh, don't even bother," Max muttered. "It's not like you two are at it _all the time._" He poked around everything on the table, looking for something to read, eat, or smoke—whicheverone came first. He looked up to ask Jude if he had anything left of what used to be _their_ personal stash (although Jude was constantly taking most of it and storing it away in his room so Max would take the last of it and have to find some more), but he was shocked to see them actually listening to what he said—going straight back to tongue wrestling at the kitchen table.

"What would mother say?" Max smirked, even though it was only half hearted. Everytime he saw this, every _fucking_ time, he got this feeling as if his nerves were lit on fire. He could almost feel himself blushing.

Max continued to poke around the kitchen until he saw Jude's charcoal covered hand slide up his little sisters shirt.

"Oh, just _leave,_ will you?" And they did, pushing eachother into their bedrooms.

Max collasped in the chair, suddenly exhausted.

…............................

Having moved from the kitchen table to the living room, again, he almost found himself falling asleep. His eyes started to droop, even though he knew he wasnt tired. He leaned on the couch and tried to make himself confortable, even though he knew that the cat was directly in front of him. He put his hands under his head, using them as a pillow, and began falling asleep.

Until a yelp from the room next door caused him to open his eyes. Wide.

And that wasn't the end of it. As he sat up, he heard it start up, the headboards banging against the wall, Lucy's moans that might as well have been interpereted as screams for help, and Jude's calming 'shh' as he fucked her brains out.

Shit.

Max covered his ears for a minute before lookingdown at the cat. She looked back up, innocently, as if she was enjoying this whole episode.

He closed his eyes and tried to tink of other things, try to forget what was going on in the next room. But all he could remember was looking down at a seven year old Lucy, explaining to her about what guys thought when they saw good-looking girls.

And the long ride to New York with Jude. Just Jude.

When he opened his eyes, he had no idea, but they were filled with tears. His hands still over his ears, he looked at the cat, who almost had a sympathetic look on his face.

"Stupid cat." He spat, the tears falling from his eyes. Then he stood up, grabbed his keys, and left the door slammed.

…..................................

Maybe this was all he needed.

He had this, firey red head, her hands all over him, letting him push her into all the rooms he wanted her to. This way, he could _always_ be in control. As soon as she mouthed 'my place or yours?', he knew he had her. The ones that let you pick always are the ones that'll let you do what you want. Or so it seemed.

"Max?" She said through their lips mashing together as he put her on the bed and took off her shirt.

"Mm?" He replied, burying his face in her neck.

"I think..." She laughed, very high-pitched, ver annoying. Max secretly wished she would never do that every again. "I think I love you."

This caused Max to lift his head completely, looking up at her face.

"What? What is it?" She asked, that stupid smile on her face. She was chewing gum. One of Max's biggest turnoffs.

He gritted his teeth. If he listened hard enough, he could've heard Lucy and Jude murmuring the same thing to eachother. "Nothing." He muttered, trying to get himself back in the mood.

"I really mean it."

Max couldn't care less, now. He just shook it off, did it, then lef the room as quickly and gracefully as he came in.

Shower was the first step, he decided, because she had been wearing this... bright red lipstick. _Like a clown,_ he thought bitterly to himself as he turned on the hot water. He reached for the soap and forgot about it for the moment...something Max had become very talented at when it came to sex. At least, sex that didnt involve Jude and Lucy, that was.

He got out of the shower and slipped in his favourite dark blue robe before returning to the couch. The cat, seeing that he had returned, moved from a little blanket on the ground back up onto the newspaper.

"Bastard." she closed her eyes in response, even though it looked like she expected him to talk about what happened.

Max scrunched up his face and poked it. "God, just, seems to help most things. Good joint and a hot girl, you know?" The cat opened her eyes and looked at him quizzically as he continued to poke her, but didnt move. "It's just... _every. Fucking. Night._" The cat, who had been poked with quite aggression on the last three words, hissed and swiped at his hand. Max retrested, mumbling a 'sorry'. "And I don't even know why I should care. It's just..." He looked down, realizing what he was doing. "I'm talking to a cat."

He stood up to get something to eat out of the kitchen, and was surprised to see that the cat had moved from the paper and was following him. Max gave a small smile. "What?" He mumbled, because he didn't know what else to say.

_Single pigeon, through the railings, did she throw you out, do you need a pal for a minute or two? Me too._

He shook his head and looked away, but was almost shocked to see her pushing her head into his feet, purring louder than the sounds he had heard in the other room. He rubbed another tear away and then picked her up, ignoring his fear of cats. He pressed her to his face, feeling her dirty, but warm fur. And compared to the other feelings he got that night, he would've said this was the best one.

He held the cat out, for a second, and for a second, she believed that he was going to drop her in disgust. Instead, he loudly proclaimed,

"Rocky."

And so it was.

….....................

Jude walked in, sleepy eyed and just covered in sex, and sat on the couch next to Max. He reached over for the cat that had made itself comfortable between Max's feet and started petting it.

"This is such a good cat." Jude commented, smiling down at it.

"It's name is Rocky." Max said, not being able to stay angry at his best friend for long.

"What?"

"Rocky, that's it's name."

He looked down at the cat, horrified, almost. "That's a horrible name for a cat."

Max snatched him back. "Well, nobody asked you." He shot. Jude looked at his friend from across the couch. Max did the same. He could almost feel the tears coming to his eyes, but he stopped them.

And then he laughed. Jude did too. They both laughed, even though nothing was funny. They laughed, and they laughed, and they laughed.

And that's how Max knew everything was going to be ok.


End file.
